Ding Dong, NebuAd Is Dead

from the so-much-for-that-plan dept

While it took many months since Congress made it clear that NebuAd's somewhat sneaky clickstream tracking/behavioral advertising plans were almost certainly illegal, it appears that the company has finally shut down completely. The similar Phorm remains in operation in the UK, but is still facing significant legal scrutiny and has been running around trying to convince everyone that it's system doesn't violate anyone's privacy. Either way, there's a good lesson to be learned: while it may seem that individuals don't pay all that much attention to their privacy rights, if you cross the line and abuse what people feel is sacred, it's going to come back to bite you.

What about the RIAA and MPPA?

I guess our non-representing Congressional representatives didn't get enough money to find this enterprise legal. How is tracking for the purposes of advertising illegal while tracking for purposes of seeing if you went to music download site is legal? Boggles the mind!